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At Williams Mullen, we place great emphasis on the professional development of our associates.

A new associate is assigned to work directly with at least one shareholder. This shareholder is responsible for monitoring assignments and workload. Although assignments often come directly from the supervising attorney, all associates are encouraged to accept projects from other members of the firm. The firm recognizes that many new attorneys have little practical background on which to base a decision as to the type of law they wish to pursue. For this reason, every new associate is given a broad range of work to provide exposure to as many practice areas as possible. In their first two years of practice, associates also participate in training sessions and mentoring programs to facilitate their professional development at Williams Mullen.

The Williams Mullen New Associate Training Program begins in January of each year and is tailored to the entry level associate. This series of 12 training sessions is designed to help better introduce new associates to the firm, the business of practicing law and other general aspects that help new associates transition from student life to firm life.

Associates continue to receive increasing levels of responsibility following their first two years at Williams Mullen. We encourage associates to develop skills outside of day-to-day legal work and also encourage and support associate involvement in activities outside of the firm.

Each year, associates complete self-evaluations that focus on their experiences at Williams Mullen and their professional development in and outside of the firm. An evaluation committee reviews these self-evaluations, along with evaluations prepared by supervising attorneys, and discusses them individually with the associate. The formal evaluation process combined with the routine day to day evaluation of work are designed to keep each associate fully aware of his or her status with respect to becoming a Williams Mullen shareholder.